Coming Back Home
by Angel Sciuto
Summary: Charlie returns to England almost twenty years after the war with a surprise for the family.
1. Chapter 1

Coming back home.

March, 2017

It had been almost twenty years. Charlie had gone back to Romania after the war. After all the funerals he just couldn't bear to stay. He'd vaguely kept in contact over the years Enough to know he had a horde of nieces and nephews he had yet to meet. All he'd told them was that he was happy and safe. And he was. Until it all changed.

One of the many things he hadn't told them was that after returning he had met someone. Her name was Rana and they'd gotten married shortly after they met. They now had two beautiful children. Nikolai, who was almost eleven and Anastasia who had just turned ten.  
Everything had been perfect until that fateful day. A Rhodesian Ridgeback had broken loose and Rana was among those trying to secure it back in it's enclosure. Maybe she spooked it or maybe she got too close but she never saw the burst of flame coming toward her. Charlie and the kids had been devastated. And now Charlie had decided to take them to England to meet his family. Rana had always wanted him to go back, even if it was just for a holiday, he was just sad that they would never get the chance to know her.

The house had been sold and the kids were packed. Charlie had sent their suitcases on ahead and then, after one last look at the train station that doubled as a Floo Network point, he and the kids stepped through to the Burrow.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

Charlie hadn't expected the whole family to be home. The house was even more crowded than it had been when he was a kid.

When Molly saw the kids hiding shyly behind Charlie, she burst into tears.

"Why did you never tell us you had kids?" she sobbed, hugging the three of them. As she hugged her son, she waved her wand at two pairs of knitting needles which immediately began knitting two sweaters.

"Nikolai, Anastasia, this is your grandmother. And the man behind her is your grandfather." The kids smiled shyly and waved at Molly and Arthur. Charlie noticed as he spoke that the sweaters suddenly had an 'N' on one and an 'A' on the other. He smiled to himself. Everyone else seemed to notice at the same time and burst into laughter, easing the tension.

The kids were still a little shy, Ana was hiding behind Charlie's leg.

Lily stepped forward with her dolls and gestured to Ana to come and play. Ana looked up shyly at Charlie who nodded encouragingly and Ana ran off after Lily to play. James and Teddy suggested a quidditch match in the backyard and all the kids ran to get their broomsticks. Nikolai looked like he was about to cry. Charlie and Rana had decided that he was too young for his own and were waiting until he started school.

"You can use mine. I'll get you one on the weekend." Nik's eyes lit up. He raced off to join the others. Meanwhile the adults retired to the kitchen for tea, biscuits and catching up.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

Charlie enjoyed catching up on all the things he had missed. He was sorry he had missed all of his younger siblings' weddings. And the children being born. He wasn't surprised that George had married Angelina Johnson. After all they had Fred in common, quidditch and being former Gryffindors. Nor was he surprised that they had named their son after Fred. He was slightly surprised that Percy had married. And had kids. He wasn't, however, surprised that Percy had named one of his daughters Molly. Charlie grinned. Percy always had been a bit of a suck-up. Looking at a ten year old Hugo, all Charlie could see was Ron when he had been the same age. And Lily, was the spitting image of both Ginny and her namesake. Charlie had only been eight and a half years old when Harry's parents had been killed but he remembered them quite fondly. As his parents had not been part of the original order but had been close friends with Lily and James through school and so Charlie had spent the first eight and a half years of his life being around them. He had seen photographs of Lily and James at school and Lily II looked just like her namesake. And just like her mother, except for the eyes. Charlie sighed, he'd been away for too long. He had seen Victoire just after she was born and left a few days later. He was slightly surprised that Victoire was now dating Teddy Lupin.

He was reminiscing about the years before the war, when suddenly a scream cut him short. He ran out to the backyard to see Nik crying with a gnome hanging off his finger. Suppressing a grin, Charlie walked over to comfort him and removed the gnome. As he hugged Nik, the others continued with their quidditch match.

"Why aren't you playing quidditch?" Charlie asked Nik. Nik shrugged.

"Kept falling off the broom. The older kids didn't want to keep waiting for me to keep up so I stopped playing. Can I play with some of my toys inside?"

Charlie nodded. As Nik went back inside, Dominique and Molly, who had been refereeing the game, came over to talk to Charlie.

"The others felt kind of bad but Nikolai could barely get off the ground without falling off. We tried to help him, teach him how to balance but he seemed to get scared the higher he went so he gave up." Molly said. Charlie nodded.

"His mother and I had thought he was too young. But maybe it's the broom. Maybe when I get him one more tailored for his height he might be able to balance better." He made a mental note to take Nik with him to Diagon Alley on the weekend.

When he came inside, everyone was smiling. "Is Nikolai ok?" Arthur asked. Charlie chuckled and nodded.

"Gnome in the backyard. Nik was exploring the garden and it bit his finger. I think he was more shocked than hurt." Everyone grinned.

"Maybe you should teach him how to de-gnome the garden later. Give him a chance to get revenge." George piped up. Charlie laughed.

"Great idea. He'd probably love that."

Later when they settled down to dinner, Charlie mentioned going to Diagon Alley.

"We're all going on Saturday. The owls with school lists came yesterday just before you did. Nikolai's letter came while you were in the backyard. He was very excited. We can take him with us if you like?" Hermione explained.

"I'll come too. Ana will want to see Diagon Alley as well. She'll love it. She'll probably want her own kitten. Or an owl," he paused and grinned then added "Or both."

Ana and Nik could barely sleep until Saturday. They couldn't wait to go shopping for school supplies. Nik stayed up late asking Louis, Fred II and James questions about Hogwarts. He couldn't wait to get there and explore the wonders the school had to offer.


End file.
